The Girl
by animallover2000
Summary: Luke Skywalker made a big mistake one night in his Nephew's room. This mistake ruined his and Ben's life and caused the darkside to grow in the galaxy. But, what if he hadn't made this critical mistake?
1. Prologue

Prologue

Luke stood up, finished with his meditating for the morning. He had been deeply troubled lately. He could feel a presence in the dark side rising up. Even more worrisome was the touch of it he could feel on his 15 year old nephew, Ben. He had been sensing the darkness grow in him for years. It was why he had come with Luke 10 years ago when he opened his training academy. Leia had sent Ben with Luke to try and get control of the darkness they both felt stirring.

Luke was beginning to worry that decision had been a mistake. Ben had felt abandoned when he had been sent to his uncle's academy and that had just fueled the darkness inside him. Luke had been considering sending him back to his parents for awhile. He didn't know what more he could do for him and being around his mother's love might just do him some good.

With difficulty he forced himself to focus on the task at hand. Today he was having his students work on their lightsaber skills. All his students were already in the training room when he arrived. He quickly split them up into pairs and set them to spar. Throughout the morning he walked among them correcting stances and techniques. He stopped for a moment to watch Ben sparring. He was paired with a young woman about his same age. Ben was amazing in his skills with the force. He learned quickly and had a natural skill with a saber. Despite Luke's fear of the darkness within him, he couldn't help but be proud of what his nephew had accomplished.

The young woman, Arees was holding her own against him though. Suddenly he felt a taste of dark in the air and immediately looked to Ben. Only to see Arees attempt to throw a large boulder toward him through the force. Ben just barely dodged getting crushed. Luke's eyes narrowed and he started toward Arees to remind her this was merely a sparring match. But, before he could Ben charged her. Suddenly their sparring became much more serious and the air around them was so thick with the dark side he was almost choking on it. He had never been so grateful he had chosen to have the students use practice sabers during these matches. Both of them already looked injured.

He sent them both flying away from each other with a force push. "That's enough. C'hale, you see to Arees wounds. Ben, come with me." He commanded. He looked back at Arees. He was shocked by the amount of darkness he could still feel coming off her and other students he quickly realized. He had been so focused on Ben and the darkness in him that he had missed other students falling.

Grabbing Ben he realized with relief that the boy only had some scraps and bruises. After cleaning him up, Luke sent him to meditate for the rest of the day. Ben brightened at the prospect. It wasn't long ago that it had been impossible to get him to mediate. But, lately he'd been having a type of visions himself. From what Ben described it was more like feelings and occasional glimpses of a young woman, different ages in each vision but Ben was sure she was the same. Luke had poured over all the information he could find on the subject. But, he still couldn't understand what was happening. His best guess was that Ben and this girl had a force link. Why or how he couldn't say. He was grateful for it though. It seemed to have a calming effect on his easily angered nephew and got him more interested in this aspect of his training.

Luke had been startled at what he had seen happen today. He had always been aware of the darkness within his nephew. But, what he had felt in Arees was more pronounced then his nephews. And they were not the only two children he felt it from.

It was way past bedtime by the time he arrived back at the temple. As he noticed himself outside his nephew's rooms he came to a decision. He would find out for sure just how deep the dark side had spread inside him.

He snuck into the hut and stood beside the young man. He reached out to Ben's mind and was instantly brought into a vision. What he saw horrified him. Flashes of murders and torture and he could hear the screams of innocents. He was mortified to see a brief flash of a red saber stabbing an older Han Solo.

He drew out quickly in shock. Instinct overtook him. He could stop this. He wouldn't let his friend be murder in such a way. He wouldn't let his nephew become what Anakin Skywalker had. His hand jumped automatically to his lightsaber ready to light it and end the sith.

That thought stopped him. He gazed down at the young boy whose mother had put in his care. His nephew, who he loved very much and removed his hand from the unlit saber. This future was not set. As much darkness as he felt in him, there was just as much light. Ben needed to let go of the feelings of abandonment he had towards his parents. That was fueling his anger.

Luke made up his mind to send Ben back to his parents just as the young man was waking up. "Uncle?" he questioned.

"I was just checking on you. Go back to sleep. We have much to discuss in the morning," he replied.

Ben merely nodded before turning back over. Luke looked back at him as he was leaving, thinking back on his horrific vision and hoping he'd made the right choice.


	2. Jakku

1- Jakku

20 years later…

Ben jumped out of his X-wing and onto the sandy ground of Jakku with annoyance. Jakku was a junkyard wasteland and he was not looking forward to spending any amount of time here. However, Poe who had been sent on a mission here was overdue. So he had volunteered to come find out what was holding up the self proclaimed "Best Pilot in the Resistance."

Despite his hatred for the planet he was now occupying, Ben had been anxious to help this particular mission. He hoped with the information Poe was receiving, he would be able to find where his uncle had runaway to. After Luke had sent him back home from the temple when he was 15, Ben had been more angry then ever. He had believed that he wasn't wanted anywhere and everyone feared him. But, it ended up being the best thing he could have done for him.

At the beginning he had clung even tighter to his dark side and the voice Luke had desperately tried to get him to ignore.

He acted out a lot those first two years back. But, slowly he began to ignore that constant voice in his head enough to see the love he was receiving from his family. They weren't sending him back and forth because they didn't want to deal with him, it was actually quite the opposite. Each time they saw something lacking on what they could give him, they sent him to where he could receive it. And they always came when he needed them. His father stayed in one place for 5 years, for him, despite how unnatural that was for him. His uncle had the humility to admit that he wasn't able to help him, despite how difficult that was. And his mother broke her own heart sending him away in the hopes he could be helped. Slowly he began to realize his family wasn't the enemy. It was the voice.

So, for the first time in his life he fought back. The voice resisted and clung on tighter, whispering lies. But, Ben was no longer listening. And finally to his relief, he felt the voice surrender and retreat from him. The feeling of relief that followed was something he would never forget. For a long time the voice came back on occasion. But, he'd shove it so far deep he could barely hear it anymore. Eventually it left one final time and did not return. What had helped him the most to fight it, was the girl. When he was about 10 years old he started having visions of a girl. They never revealed anything except her and the visions showed him the girl at random ages. One day it looked like she was around 5 years old and the next she was 35. He never saw anything other then her, but he did receive feelings. He didn't know where she was, her current age or what her day to day life was like. But, he knew her. He knew she was extremely lonely, but strong and determined. He didn't know what she was waiting for. But, he did sense her strong feeling of needing to wait for something. Just as he knew deep down she believed it to be hopeless. He didn't know why the force was showing him this girl or if she sensed him too. But, he was grateful for her presence.

When he was younger he used to imagine finding her and saving her from the loneliness he felt from her. When he believed himself surrounded by people who saw him as a monster, it helped to imagine being someone's hero. But, as time went on he realized he was never going to meet the girl. He still saw her all the time. But, he had long sense stopped looking.

When he was 20, he returned to his uncle's temple, rid of the dark voice and anxious to continue his Jedi training. He wasn't there a full month before it happened. Arees attacked Luke and himself. She had chosen the darkside and now sought to eradicate the light. He and half the students sided with Luke. The other half chose darkness as well and stood with Arees. Ben had been knocked unconscious during the fight. When he woke up, he was in his parents home with his uncle no where in sight. His mother told him that all the students that had sided with Luke had been killed. And Luke had escaped with him. Luke had left as soon as he had dropped off Ben, cut himself off from the force and disappeared. Arees and the students that sided with her joined a dark side master and started calling themselves the knights of Ren. The first order then emerged and he and his mother built up a resistance against this dark government. All the while they search for Luke, but he clearly did not want to be found.

But, that was why he was on this junkyard planet. To hopefully receive intelligence leading to his uncle. Ben pulled out his data pad and used it to follow BB-8's tracker. Poe would be with him. It led him to a place called Niima Outpost. When he was close enough that he should be able to see him, he started searching the outpost for Poe. As he was scanning the area he spotted a familiar face. But, not the one he was expecting. He stared in shock at the girl, THE girl. This was no vision. She was right there. What does he do now. Just walk up to her and say, "Hi, you don't know me but i've seen you in dreams and visions for decades." What if she didn't know she was connected to him? What if she did? Besides, he had a mission. An important one. He had to find Poe.

As he stood staring trying to convince himself to walk away and stick to his mission, 3 thugs attacked the girl. Ben narrowed his eyes in anger and started to bolt towards them hand on his saber at his hip. Only to stop short when the girl fought back, clearly not needing any help. With her metal staff she quickly incapacitated her attackers.

Ben was shocked again when after the last thug was down, she bent down and pulled a sheet that revealed BB-8. He again glanced around looking for Poe and began to worry when he couldn't find him. That little droid never left his master's side. He started toward the girl and droid, both excited and nervous at the thought of actually meeting her. But, then BB-8 spotted something in the distance and started screaming. The girl automatically reacted and ran straight in the direction BB-8 had been looking. It didn't take long to see the problem. A young man was running away from the girl. Ben immediately recognized Poe's flight jacket and his worry increased. Poe never let that jacket or BB-8 out of his sight.

He decided it was time he showed himself. Clearly something had happened to Poe and he needed to find out what that was. He ran to catch up with them and arrived just in time to hear the man tell BB-8 that Poe was dead. Shock and grief hit him with the news of his friends death. BB-8 rolled away from the two and he overheard the man tell her that he was with the resistance. Ben had helped his mom build the resistance and he could tell that this guy was not a resistance fighter.

BB-8 suddenly noticed him and after several happy beeps raced to his side. His loud happy beeps got the attention of the coat thief and his new companion. "BB-8?" the girl asked. BB-8 quickly spun around to face her and started beeping out who Ben was. When the girl looked up at him during BB-8's rant, she froze starring at him in shock. Ben, was surprised at this. Had she been seeing him too? He didn't know how to react so he just stared back nervously. Their shocked starring was interrupted by BB-8 screaming a warning and pointing out two storm troopers. Ben, started to plan out the best escape route. But that was ruined when the coat thief grabbed the girl's hand and bolted away. That's the right thing to do, he thought sarcastically. Make a scene and alert them right to us. He rolled his eyes as BB-8 followed them. He ran after them and caught back up to them hiding in a tent. The girl was loudly complaining her hand being grabbed and was quickly shushed by the coat thief. The sound of tie fighters suddenly filled the air. He reached out for the two to calm them down and lead them out quietly. Yet again, the coat thief grabbed the girl's hand and panickly raced out of the tent and immediately the area was struck. Ben rolled his eyes and ran out to see if the coat thief's stupid actions had killed his vision girl.

She was alright and trying to wake the young man who had been knocked unconscious. He was tempted to tell her to leave him. But, the coat thief woke before he could." We need a ship," he shouted to her instead.

"This way," the girl shouted helping the young man up before racing toward a shipyard. He set his sight on a quad jumper she pointed out and raced for it.

"What about that ship," the coat thief shouted pointing to their side.

"That one's garbage," she shouted back just in time for the tie fighters to blow their target ship. "Garbage will do," she said before bolting in the direction he had pointed.

Ben turned and got his first look at the "garbage ship" and his mouth dropped open. "You have got to be kidding," he shouted.


	3. The Escape

2- The Escape

He shook his head one last time at the irony. His father had been searching for years for this ship only for it to show up the moment he needed it. He quickly ran up the Falcon's ramp after his new companions and headed for the cockpit. He heard the girl yell out to the coat-thief where the gunner's station was, before she too headed for the cockpit. Good, he thought, it's easier to fly with a co-pilot.

They both reached the pilot seat at the same time. "Co-pilot seat is right there," he let her know while pointing to it .

"So sit in it," she responded while sitting down like it was already establish that she was the pilot.

His mouth dropped open. " I don't think so," he said anoyed. This is my ship and I'm the pilot."

"This is not your ship," she protested. "We stole it together. And I'm in the seat so I'm the pilot."Ben ground his teeth together and opened his mouth to reply.

"What's the problem guys?" shouted the coat-thief. "We need to get moving now!"

"He's right," Ben said to her irritated. "We need to get going before they blast us apart." Then he gestured to the co-pilot seat.

"Then sit in your seat so I can fly us out of here," she told him frustrated.

He opened his mouth to shout at her but was interrupted by a tie-fighter blast hitting the Falcon and knocking him to the ground. "Guys!" coat-thief shouted. Giving in Ben slumped into the co-pilot's seat.

She gave him a big grin and said cheerfully, "Good, lets get going." She quickly started up the ship and it rose off the ground. She was clumsy with the controls and proceeded to crash into everything attempting to take off.

Ben ground his teeth in frustration. He hid his hand and used the force to click the switch she had missed. Immediately, the Falcon started flying upwards.

The coat-thief yelled up to them from the gunner's chair. "Stay low, it confuses their tracking."

"How did he know that?" Ben mumbled under his breath.

She quickly pulled back and turned them around to fly parallel with the ground. But they were soon pursued by two tie fighters and began taking fire.

"Are you ever going to fire back?" shouted Ben.

"It's not so easy in this chair," the coat-thief yelled. "I'd like to see you try it."

Ben had been in that seat, many times. "Fine, i'll do it," he replied.

The girl stopped him though, "No, I need a co-pilot. Do you see where the shields are?" Ben sat back into his chair and flipped the correct switch.

"We need cover," Ben told her.

"We're about to get some," she replied scraping the edge of the ship while turning. Just as they were reaching a scrap pile of old ships, a tie-fighter landed a hit that shook the ship.

"Any time now," Ben shouted impatiently at the coat-thief. As she started to maneuver them through the scrap pile, the coat thief blasted one of the tie-fighters chasing them. "Yes," he shouted. "Good job."

But, the second tie-fighter blasted the cannon. "It's jammed," coat-thief shouted.

The girl quickly flipped some switches and shouted. "Get ready," she shouted.

"For what?" both boys asked.

Ben leaned forward in his seat grabbing his controls. "What are you planning," he asked. Her response was to fly the ship into an old star destroyer. Ben's eyes went wide. "I hope you know what your doing," he told her. The tie-fighter followed them in and continued its pursuit. The area around them continued to get smaller and smaller before the tie-fighter blasted the space in front of them blinding them in smoke.

"Are we really doing this?" shouted the coat-thief.

They quickly came to the end of the line and Ben glanced sideways at the girl before grabbing a tight hold of his seat. But, just before they crashed into the old ship she made a tight turn and flew out of an opening he never would have seen coming. She turned the ship upside down and set them up for the shot. He grinned at the girl. That was a brilliant move. That guy better not miss and screw it up.

The tie-fighter followed them out of the ship and the coat-thief took the shot. It was a perfect shot and their last pursuer went down. Immediately, the girl pulled them back up and blasted them into orbit. "Yeah," they all shouted celebrating their victory. They both sat back in their chairs with relief and turn to each other with matching grins.

With the immediate danger out of the way, his nerves returned. He didn't know what to say to her. Did he mention their conection or keep it to himself? After seeing her face when they first met, he was pretty sure she had seen him too. She seemed to be having the same problem he was. This is ridiculous he decided. This was the girl he'd been waiting to meet for decades. He could see into her soul, her whole life from across the galaxy. He knew her. He opened his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by the coat-thief.

"That was awesome!" he shouted. The girl jumped up and ran to him excited and they both started overly complimenting each other and talking about how amazing what they had just done was. He leaned forward toward the console and started a course for D'Qar letting them have their moment. When he stood up finished setting their course, they had calmed back down and were asking each other for their name.

Rey, he smiled now having a name for his force link partner. She turned back to him with questioning eyes. "Ben," he told her. She smiled back at him and opened her mouth to speak.

Only for the coat-thief, now Finn he had heard, to step inbetween them. "They won't give up. They'll be here soon in greater number. We need to get out of here."

"I set it for the resistance base on D'Qar," he told them.

"What!" Rey exclaimed. "No, I can't leave Jakku. Go back."

"Back to Jakku?" both men asked flabbergasted.

"I have to go back!" she exclaimed racing back to the cockpit.

"Why does everyone want to go to Jakku?" Finn asked exasperated.

Ben walked up to her and gently placed a hand on hers, stopping her from changing course. "You don't have to go back there. I'll take you anywhere you want. Jakku is a wasteland."

"My family will be coming back for me," she told him. "What if they come when I'm not there?" It suddenly made sense to Ben. Her need to wait even though deep down she knew they weren't coming. He also knew, though, that she wasn't ready to face that reality.

"Okay," he told her. "But, it's not safe to return right now. The first order is going to be circling that planet for awhile. Come with me to bring BB-8 back and I promise right after, I'll personally fly you back home."

She looked back at him for a long time, obviously not wanting to risk missing her family. Finally, she looked down, gave him a quick nod and let go of the controls.


	4. The Lie

3- The Lie

"We don't have enough fuel to make it to D'Qar. Whoever stole this ship almost completely drained the tanks," announced Ben.

"So, what do we do?" asked Finn.

"I changed our course to Takodana. It's a friendly planet where I know someone trustworthy that can get us more. We have just enough to make it there," Ben replied. Finn nodded in response before turning away from the cockpit. Ben turned himself around and leaned against the console with his arms crossed across his chest. "So, what's your story?" he asked him. He'd been waiting for an opportunity to interegate the fake resistance fighter since he had met him. With Rey deeper in the ship cleaning up BB-8, this was the perfect opportunity.

"What do you mean?" Finn asked. "I'm a resistance fighter that just escaped from the first order."

"I believe that your running from the first order. But, your not a resistance fighter," replied Ben. Finn opened his mouth to disagree but Ben intrupted him. "I know every resistace fighter personally. I helped to build it. You are no resistance fighter. Now, I can help you get away from the first order. But, you gotta be honest with me."

Finn gave a long sigh before telling his story. "I'm actually a stormtrooper. Last night was my first field deployment. I was ordered to shoot an entire village of innocent and defenseless people. I didn't fire. I ran before I could be recommissioned. Poe was in custody on the same ship. I took him with me when I escaped. But, our tie-fighter was shot down and Poe didn't survive the crash. I don't mean any harm to you, Rey or the resistance. I just want to get away from the first order."

"I believe you," said Ben. "When we get Takodana, you should be able to find someone that will take you to the outer rim, somewhere you can disappear."

"Thank you," Finn said.

Ben nodded to him before leaving in search on Rey. He found her just finishing up scrubbing all the sand out of BB-8's gears. She looked up and acknowledged him before going back to her work. He sat down beside her on the floor. "So, are we going to talk about it?" he asked her. From her reactions he was sure she had been seeing him as well.

She stopped scrubbing BB-8 and looked up at him. "So, you have been seeing me too?' she asked. When he nodded she continued. "How?" she asked.

"I don't know," he told her. "My uncle and I researched this for years. My best guess is it's a type of force link. In the time of Jedi, there would be links similar to this between master and padawan. But, this is not that. One thing I know for certain is that the force is connecting us. For what purpose or why us, I don't know. However, I'd like to explore this and discover the answers with you."

She smiled at him. "Me too," she replied.

He smiled and nodded before standing up. "Looks like BB-8 is happy," he said watching him roll around and beep happily. He always did hate being dirty. He glanced down at her noticing the grease smears, smoke and sand. "Looks like you could use a shower and a change of clothes. Fresher is right through there and I think there's some clothing in here that would fit you." He walked to a supply closet and placed his hand in the scanner. The closet opened and he pulled out a set of clothes that had been his in his mid-teens. "These should fit you," he told her handing them over.

"How did you do that?" she asked him gesturing to the hand scanner.

He grinned cockily at her before replying. "I told you, this is my ship. More acurratly my father's ship. It was stolen from us about five years ago. My father's been searching for her since then. He's going to be so glad to have her back."

"This piece of junk," replied Rey. "Your father would be better off getting a different ship."

Ben laughed at that before replying, "That may be so. But, can you imagine Han Solo without the Millenium Falcon." He watch the shock wash over her face before she replied.

"Your father is Han Solo? This is the Millenium Falcon?" she asked shocked.

He looked back at her and grinned. "Yeah," he confirmed. He never got tired of that. Seeing someone's reaction when they found out his parentage. It was always the same shocked, awed look. No one had ever heard of him. But, he had yet to meet anyone who didn't know of his parents or uncle.

"This is the Millennium Falcon," she said to herself still awed and looking around. "No wonder you didn't want me piloting. This is your family's ship."

"Like I said," he replied. "We're almost to Takodana ," he told her changing the subject. "We're low on fuel so we need to stop to get some more before reaching D'Qar.

She nodded in response before taking the clothes from him and heading to the fresher. He headed back to the cockpit to check on their progress. Just as he thought, they were close. They would be arriving within the hour.

BB-8 came whirling up to his side and greeted him with a few happy beeps. He smiled at the droid sadly, thinking of Poe. It was a terrible loss to the resistance. Eventhough the two of them had bickered between the two of them as to who was the better Pilot, he never denied that he was talented. A true asset to the resistance. A good man and friend. Ben lost a lot of fighters in this war. Now that he wasn't running for his own life, he could process how much he was going to miss the fellow pilot. But, he knew Poe wouldn't have had it any other way, dying for a cause he believed in so strongly.

Rey came into the cock-pit just as he was getting alerted of their approach to Takodanna. It was time to switch off autopilot and land. She slipped into the co-pilot's seat and started setting up controls on her end. He sat up and did the same.

"So, where on this planet are we going?" Finn asked coming up behind them. "An old friend of my father's owns a tavern here. She'll be able to get us the fuel we need and find passage for you," he replied.

"Your not joining us back to your base," Rey asked Finn.

"Um…no," Finn said looking to Ben for help. Ben just shook his head refusing to help him in his lie.

"Yeah," he told her giving up on Ben. "I've received an important assignment. Classified, I can't tell you about it." Ben turned back to give him a disbelieving look.

"When did you receive these orders?" she asked.

"Ben brought them to me," he told her.

"How did you guys know you would meet up here and I thought you had just met?" she directed toward Ben.

Ben opened, then closed his mouth not knowing what to say. He glared at Finn and made it clear he was on his own here. But, Finn was saved from responding when they were close enough to the planet to make out details. Rey starred out in amazement at the scene. "I didn't know there was so much green in the entire galaxy. It's beautiful," she said.

Ben smiled at that. He hadn't given up on convincing her to stay. "Just wait," he told her. "There are so many more amazing planets out there." When she didn't respond he glanced sideways toward her. But, she was so mesmerized by what she saw that she probably hadn't heard him. He let it go and turned his full attention to landing.


End file.
